Jupiter School For The Arts
by Oswin Cadwin
Summary: Welcome to Jupiter School For The Arts, where goals are accomplished and dreams come true. Join five new students, as they discover the ups and downs of their talents: Hazel, Nico, Jason, Annabeth, and Calypso. Will they navigate their talents and struggles successfully, with the help of new friends? When on the gods' technicolored Earth did life get so complicated!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yet another story idea has entered the mind of Oswin Cadwin. Oswin has something to tell you. Okay, I'll stop speaking in the third person now. So, I'm taking the month of January off, for most of it. I'm going to post one more chapter for Photos of our Past and then pause it until February, and I'll finish up A Demigod Sleepover (Wow, such an original name, that one). I will probably be mainly focusing on this one, but I won't post very often in January. And in February-March, I won't be writing in the PJO section that much at all. I'll be focusing on my other favorite fandoms, like Harry Potter and Maximum Ride. But don't feel down, friends! For now, just...Read on!**

The doors of the school opened. All the students rushed in, except for five. They were in a little group, talking amongst themselves, shaking with excitement, and fear.

"So, who's ready to enter the School of Hell?"

"Shut up, Nico. I'm happy we're here, Half-Blood was a joke."

"I can agree with that, Haze. But...I'm still not sure where the art section is."

"Right next to the Acting Center, I think. I'll show you there...wait, where's my phone?"

"Oh, right here, Annabeth...hold on...you dropped it at the airport, I put it in my pocket and forgot about it."

"Thanks, Jason."

"Okay, let's go in, we've got to get to the office and find our dorms."

Nico, Hazel, Annabeth, Jason, and Calypso all stared into Jupiter School for the Arts, as if their fate was now decided. Which, technically, it was.

The students filed into the office, where a plump little woman in purple handed out slips of paper, schedules, and room assignments.

"Nico di Angelo, ballet...hm...oh, you're right in the West Wing dorm, or the blue section...with Jason Grace. Mr. Grace, up here, please! Okay, Grace, Grace...here's your schedule, Music...piano, right? Okay. Follow di Angelo."

Nico and Jason stood by the door, waiting for their friends. The ho-hum voice of the lady echoed into the hall.

"Hazel Levesque, ballet...you're a contortionist, great, the school only has one so far...you'll be with Calypso Og-ogi-girl, how do you pronounce that name?"

Calypso rolled her eyes and stepped forward, her long, caramel french braid swishing to hip-length. "Oh-gee-gee-ah."

"Calypso Ogygia...can this school get any stranger...C. Ogygia...Ogygia...ah. Calypso Ogygia, photography. You know, they almost canceled that class last year, and there's barely enough students this year. But here's your schedules, get outta here. Annabeth Chase, concept art...oh, joy, another one of those weirdos. You'll be with Piper McLean, Piper, get over here...she's been attending for three years, and she'll show you around. Okay, now, go, get outta here, I got students to file for detention." Her face lit up at that thought, which was not very reassuring.

The group met up again, gave each other reassuring nods, and split off into seperate pairs to leave for their dorms.

 **Annabeth/Piper**

Oh, what a pretty painting...but she'd do better...she'd make a great masterpiece...

"So, you're in Conceptual?"

The sound of Piper's voice made Annabeth jump out of her fantasy. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I am."

"When's your first class?"

"Tomorrow, at nine."

"Cool. I'm in acting, first class after lunch. Hey, wanna go to the pizza place later? It's great, way better than the crap pizza that's served here. You can bring your friends,"

"Oh, okay."

They came to a door that read _Annabeth Chase-Conceptual Art/Piper McLean-Drama_. Annabeth slid her keycard across the door handle (Jeez, this place was _fancy_ ), and the door opened to reveal a large, creamy-yellow room. It had two white beds with matching white bedside tables, desks, and wardrobes. The carpet was an impossibly bright white, nothing like the dingy grey carpet back at Half-Blood. Annabeth started setting up immediately, spreading the owl-patterned sheet over the bed, and placing a light blue lamp on the table. She hung up two pictures on the two nails provided on each side of the room. One was a landscape photo of a sunset over the Grand Canyon (she'd been there with her family over the summer), and the other was of her and her family: Her dad, stepmom, and three little brothers. Annabeth finished by placing her books in a neat row on the desk, and shoving the clothes into the wardrobe

Piper's side, meanwhile, was completely different. She placed a light lavendar sheet over the bed, a pink lamp and a sketchbook on the table, and hung clothes neatly in the wardrobe. She hung two pictures on the wall, one, like Annabeth, of her family, and another of her and a couple other girls, all back-to-back and smiling.

"My cheer squad," she told Annabeth, "When we were twelve, the summer before I left and came here." She finished by hanging up eleven posters of different plays she'd been in. "Finally, done."

 **All**

At about lunchtime, Hazel and Calypso ran three stories down to the main floor.

"Why...does it have...to be so...far up?" panted Calypso, once they reached the bottom.

"Because...that's our...luck." Hazel lead her over to the ginormous corkboard, which had all the school news on it. There was literally a student on a step-stool, reading the notice on the very top, something about first-year acting groups. Above the mob already gathered there, Hazel shoved her way through. "Whoa! There are so many people in ballet!"

Calypso laughed, as she studied a different post with a cartoonish image of a neon-green camera. "Lucky. The list for my photo class is only, like, fifteen people long. I read online that they need at least fifteen. We're barely cutting it!"

Hazel spotted a familiar fluff of black hair. "Nico! Over here!"

Nico spotted her and came through the massive group. "Hey. What's up?"

"Mm, just finished up the dorm. It's literally half green, and half red. It's like walking into Santa's workshop!"

"Ergh. Mine's blindingly white, there's no way Jason'll keep his side clean."

"And, you will?"

"No promises, but I'm not the one who's incredibly clumsy and addicted to Coke."

Suddenly, Annabeth and a very pretty girl came running over. They were laughing at something the other had just said.

"Hey, guys, wanna go out for pizza later? Piper invited me and said I could bring friends. It's like a big, first-day-here party thing."

"Exactly my words. I'm bringing a few of my friends, too."

Annabeth smiled. "So, whatcha think? Oh—JASON! OVER HERE!"

Piper caught her breath.

"Hey," said Jason, greeting her.

"Hi..." Piper gave a tiny wave. Her voice had gone an octave higher than usual.

They all agreed to meet in half an hour.

"I'm bringing my friends Percy from Conceptual Art, Leo from Culinary, Frank from Film-making, and Will and his little sister Kayla, from Acting."

"How'd you get to know Leo? Isn't Culinary on the way-far side of the school, two stories up?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, but in my first year, when we were twelve, he invaded the school kitchens and started one of the best school legends, the 'Placid And Spectacularlily Tasty Revolution for Young Ones'. Don't ask me why he called it that, it was utter chaos. They threw ten bowls of Insta-Done mashed potatoes onto the ceiling, and it literally stuck there for three day. Sadly, when it fell, I was one of the unfortunate ones under it."

"He probably called it that name because the acronym is PASTRY-O."

"If he did, that's the most brain power he's ever put into something. His grades, besides cooking, are all C's and below."

 _-0-0-0-_

Once they were all at the pizza place, they found the largest table and sat down.

"So, how's everyone?" Asked Piper, trying to break the silence.

Annabeth looked up hastily. She'd been studying this Percy boy's eyes, how the greenish-blueish colors shifted, the way they spiraled into the inky blackness of the pupil. She could see a painting forming in her mind. "Oh, I'm great," she elbowed Nico, who was next to her.

"Hm? Yeah. Great."

Piper smiled. She looked over at Frank, who'd been occupied with slowly shredding his napkin while staring at the girl with curly, cinnamon hair. Hailey? No, Hazel. Meanwhile, Kayla and Leo were making an onager out of silverware and two scrunchies, while Will was studying everything in the room.

"Sorry about my friends. They're a bit...distractible," Piper explained.

Finally, the pizzas came: One pepperoni and one black olive. This made everyone a lot more talkative.

"Ew. Olives on _pizza_? You are insane!" Percy mock-gagged as Annabeth helped herself to three slices.

" _You're_ the insane one! Only someone with a brain of seaweed would hate olives."

"Nothin' against the olives themselves, Annie, but on... _pizza._ " He grabbed four slices of pepperoni, as though determined to eat more than Annabeth.

Piper scrunched her nose at the pepperoni and, like Annabeth, grabbed an olive slice.

"So, um...you're in ballet, right?" Frank asked Hazel awkwardly. His napkin was now ripped into sixteenths.

"Oh, yeah. I'm a contortionist, too."

"Cool. Maybe you could show me that sometime?"

"Yeah, sure! Just try to stop into the ballet room at a free period?"

Leo was attempting to get the pretty girl's attention. She was truly beautiful, with a very long braid swung over her right shoulder, and her almond-shaped eyes shimmering in the light.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, grinning.

"Mm, well, I'm sitting here and wondering why you're talking to me."

He gave up after that...for now. She would be all over Leo McShizzle Valdez, soon enough. Very, very soon.

The pizza was finished, and the fight over paying the bill was won by Piper. She'd been slightly entranced by Jason, and Jason had been equally entranced by her. The eyes, like kaleidoscopes...

They all hardly noticed when Nico slipped out of the door, mumbling something about calling his sister and unpacking.

"I wonder if he's okay..." Hazel muttered, watching him leave.

"You aren't—together?" asked Frank, nervous.

"What? Oh, no, no! He's my brother," she noticed the look he gave her, "I was adopted from New Orleans when I was little."

He looked relieved.

Everyone kind of filed out of the door, talking and making plans to meet again. Percy and Annabeth seemed to have gotten along especially well, and actually already had plans for a date! Finally, they arrived back at the school, and everyone seemed quite content with the brand-new school year ahead of them.

 **A/N: So, what did ya think? I've actually been planning this one in my head for quite a while. It started as a Solangelo headcanon, (What if Will were an actor and Nico were in ballet? What if they met?) And then it grew and blossomed. Fun Fact: I love pepperoni and olive pizzas, and I would enjoy being a contortionist...first I have to get all my splits down, and I'll let y'all know when that happens. I can do the right splits, at least. Kinda. Sort of. Bye!**

 **~Oswin C.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Oh, um...** _ **ahem.**_ **I, uh, haven't been updating...any...of my PJO stuff. Even more apologies to TheBookFiend, since you were reading all my PJO stuff...** _ **ahem**_ **. Anyway, I'm back! You probably won't get updates often, as I'm running a much bigger project over in the Maximum Ride section (** _ **Rosaline**_ **, and the sequel,** _ **Ember**_ **.) I'm sorry, but my break was quite necessary. I was starting to slow down to a turtle crawl, and it was necessary in order to give y'all the best quality story possible from me. Just in advance, I'm sorry I'm breaking your hearts so early in the game. Now, READ ON!**

 **UPDATE: 11/29/17: Fixed the line breaks, and some disgusting typos that I'm ashamed of.**

"Nico! What's up?" Jason sauntered into the room, looking happy and smiley.

"Just calling Bianca." Nico was typing a number into his phone. It was old, a flip-phone, but he couldn't afford another one. Besides, all he needed to do was call and text.

"Dude, isn't that a long-distance call? That's gonna be one heck of a bill."

"I don't care. I need to talk to her."

"About what?"

Nico looked up sharply. "That's none of your business!" He got up quickly and left, the phone to his ear.

It was weird...Jason and Nico were best friends. They'd been ecstatic when they were put together in a dorm, and that had just been this morning...what could've changed in that small amount of time? Unless... _no_. He shook that thought from his head. Nico wasn't like that. Pfft, he wouldn't do that to him.

Piper didn't seem quite his type. Right?

 _-0-0-0-_

 _Brrrring_..."Nico?"

"Is Bianca there? I need to talk to her."

"Oh...um..." There was a long pause on the other end. A mess of Italian, but it was so fast and jumbled over the static of the phone that Nico couldn't hear it.

"Dad? You there?"

Another pause. "Nico, we need to talk some other time. Bianca's not here at the moment. She's at Alessandra's house for the night, but she'll be back. Okay? Bye, _piccolo Nico_."

Nico bit his lip at the nickname. _Little Nico._ He was short, even for an Italian. They didn't have to remind him. "Okay. Bye, then." The phone clicked off.

 _-0-0-0-_

The next day, the five friends (plus the others they'd met) gathered at a table in the corner of the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Jeez," Hazel motioned her plastic cereal spoon to her brother, who was seated at the far end, "What's up with him?"

Jason shrugged. "No idea. Last we talked, he tried to call Bianca. When I asked him why, he wouldn't tell."

"Oh well. He's like that sometimes. But it's kind of a good thing, he dances better when he's like that, so it'll make a good impression."

"That's weird."

"It's all about feeling, Mr. Grace. You should know that as a pianist."

Jason laughed. "Shut up. I'm not that good."

"Oh really? Who else can play 'Flight of the Bumblebee' with the metronome at two hundred? Seriously."

"Ya got me there."

Suddenly, the bell rang. It was so loud and shrill that many students jumped (Frank and Hazel), yelled (Percy) or dropped their toast into their orange juice (Leo and Piper, but Piper had a muffin, and Leo proceeded to drink his juice anyway).

"Let's all hurry up. We can walk until this little crossroad area, then we have to split up." explained Annabeth.

Ten seconds of silence passed as the five thought about this. They'd been inseparable, and now everyone would be scattered throughout this giant maze-of-a-school.

"Let's all..." Calypso took a breath, "Let's all make a pact. We're not to get distracted by _certain significant others_ and leave each other behind. Right?"

"We won't get all caught up in that drama crap," Jason added in.

"No way," Annabeth nodded, "and we won't submit to peer pressure and bully each other."

"We won't judge each other," Hazel chimed.

"No jumping to conclusions about something," Leo suggested.

"And we definitely won't ignore each other when we need each other," Frank glanced around.

Percy and the others that hadn't spoken just shrugged. Percy laughed. "I got nothing, you all named everything perfectly."

Each nodded in agreement. They moved down two halls in a tightly huddled group, and when they reached the different paths, they split up, with calls of 'See you at lunch!' and 'Good luck!' and 'You'll be incredible, I just know it.'

 **Annabeth-Conceptual Art**

"Hello?"

Annabeth crept into the bursting classroom, full of pottery wheels and paint-covered sinks and easels with beautiful white canvases being painted with brilliantly bright colors. A few students turned their heads in acknowledgement of her, but soon turned back to their splattering and swishing of their paint brushes.

"Miss Annabeth Chase?" A teacher in bright colors and a rainbow-knit sweater glided over. Her frizz of dark hair was in a messy knot at the top of her head, and she wore peculiar earrings that looked like she'd made them herself. They were normal white thread, with random buttons and even a dullened needle hanging off of them. "You're a bit late, but that's fine. What materials do you prefer? Oh, paints? Okay. You can take that easel there, next to the dark-haired boy. I'm sure you'll be great. We're just having a bit of a show-off day today."

Annabeth nodded happily and sat on the little stool in front of the blank canvas. She studied the other student's picture, a storm of gray, with lightning flashes, but all swirling in a single almond-shape. She shrugged off the odd feeling that it gave her, and went to her own paints. All the colors on the color wheel, it seemed, were at her service. She turned to her mixing tray and began preparing the painting she'd thought of ever since yesterday...she made the brush dance across the page, it obeyed her every command: The whirlpool of aquamarine, spiraling to black darkness, and the waves of sky blue and seafoam green that pointed to the inky, indigo hole.

Eventually, the class ended, and the paintings were left to dry and show tomorrow. As she left, she caught sight of the boy who'd been next to her.

Oh, God.

It was _Percy_.

 **Nico and Hazel-Ballet**

"Okay, okay, class, listen up! I am Miss Jean-Jaden, and you shall follow all of my instructions! I want you to line up at the barre-like so-and plie! Tondu-second position! Plie! Tondu-third position! Plie!"

This continued for quite a while. Finally, they were instructed to show what they could do.

"Cecil Markowitz! Show me your performance!"

"Lou Ellen Blackstone!"

"Reyna Ramirez-Arellano!"

And then... "A duet—Nico and Hazel di Angelo!"

They stepped out on the Second Auditorium stage and got into their positions. The music started. They bent backwards, back-hand-springing towards each other. Nico landed with one knee on the ground, then reached behind him and grabbed Hazel's hands. She seemed to glide over him, landing gracefully on one foot. Nico pushed his lowered leg out and sprung back up. They were full of life, bursting with emotion, perfect-They reached their ending poses.

"Thank you, Mr. and Ms. di Angelo. That will be all. You will get your official class positions tomorrow-now, off with you!"

 **Jason-Music**

"A-ma-a-a-azing gra- _ace_! How swe-e-e-t, the-E-e so-ound!"

Jason nearly tripped over his fingers. This pretty Asian girl's voice kept flipping up and down, adding accents where they weren't needed. Honestly, he thought she was terrible. This was a classical music class, not a pop star class!

"Thank you, Ms. Tanaka, that was... _unique_. Mr. Grace, could you try this one?" Mrs. Muse shoved yet another sheet of music in front of him, and another singer.

"You're here, there's NO-THING I fear, and I kno-o-ow that my heart will, my heart will go o-on!"

That was better. A song that he (unfortunately) knew. Calypso, Hazel, and Annabeth had been having a 'Girl's Night' (A night where the boys sat in the kitchen and had cream soda-chugging contests,) and were watching Titanic. At one point, the whole dorm room was shuddering with...

"We'll stay, for-EV-er this way! You are safe and my heart will, my heart will go on!"

Sure, he knew Amazing Grace. But the way that Tanaka girl sang it was... _ick_.

"Lovely, Mr. Grace, Ms. Cayden! Well, class, I'm afraid that's all the time we have...don't you groan like that, cellos, we'll get to you tomorrow! There is plenty of time for all of our instruments to shine!"

Jason rushed out of class, but he could've sworn that Ms. Cayden-Autumn, her name was-had winked at him.

 **Calypso-Photography**

"Okay, class, our first lesson! This once will be splendid! We are going to Culinary to take pictures of their new creations. They are having a free-cooking day! Isn't that lovely? Pair up with anyone in there, and take pictures of their culinary creations! He, he!" She smiled as if it were the funniest thing in the world.

The classed filed down into the kitchens. Everyone flew to a partner, leaving Calypso lost in the crowd. And of course, the only person left for Calypso to choose was...

Leo. Freaking. Valdez.

"Well, well, well, here we have Calypso Whats-her-name, here to photograph my amazing creations!"

"Shut it. I'm just trying to have a good first day."

Leo flicked a spoonful of homemade whipped cream onto the dessert he was making. "What, I didn't make a good impression on you over pizza?"

"Not in the slightest. You shoved an olive _up your nose_ , Valdez."

"Ooh, we're on last-name terms! Fun times! Anyway, the creme brulee is done, I just need-" A ding from the oven, "A-ha! That would be the enchiladas. Culinary creation complete! Oh, one sec-" He placed a raspberry and a mint leaf on the creme brulee and set the little dish next to the serving platter. "Voila! Chef Valdez at your service!"

Calypso started taking pictures from different angles. Le hit a red buzzer on the side of the table, signaling to the teacher that he had completed the meal. Other people around him were just finishing up-A blonde girl with a splatter of freckles and brown eyes was just spooning mashed potatoes and placing a biscuit next to homestyle fried chicken, a tall boy with short black hair and blue eyes was sprinkling cacao powder over a sort of mexican chicken chili, two twin girls with red hair were arguing over the cayenne powder.

"Worthy of a magazine," Leo mumbled, looking over Calypso's shoulder.

"Shut up."

"Alright, time's up! Photographers, report back to your instructor. Mini-chefs, prepare for the ever-awaited taste test! The winner gets to make dinner for the school along with three companions for three days!"

To Calypso's surprise, they all cheered at this and started promising each other that yes, they would choose them, if they won.

"Okay photographers, back to class!"

Calypso glanced over her shoulder one more time at the energetic Spanish boy.

 _No, no, nope._

 _-0-0-0-_

"So, how was everyone's day?" Jason asked, flopping back onto a couch in the rec room. "Mine included the screeching of a banshee and the singing of a canary."

"Um."

"Okay."

"Not answering."

"I never want to see Mexican food again."

"Trick question: The answer is forty-two," a mischievous voice whispered.

Hazel jumped to see Leo behind her. "Oh, hi."

"What's up, _mis nuevos amigos_? I just got to hear my fellow _artistas_ complain about their day. Except Will. I dunno what's up with that guy, he's like a living ray of sunshine."

"Thanks, buddy!" Will called from the other side of the room.

"A-a-and fifty-out-of-fifty hearing. _Perfecto_."

A voice suddenly came over the speaker system. _"Will Nico and Hazel di Angelo please come to the office? Nico and Hazel di Angelo? We have a call for you."_

"Must be a dang important call, if they can't just call your cell," Jason said, shrugging. "Go on, we'll meet you later at dinner."

Nico stood stiffly and went to the office. Hazel quickly followed him. They were led into a small, private room with a phone put on speaker.

" _Piccolo Nico, Hazel?_ " It was his grandmother. " _Sei tu? Si tratta di Bianca...Piccolo Nico, il mio Hazel, siamo cosi dispiaciuti...e stata ferita..."_ (Little Nico, Hazel? Is that you? It's about Bianca...little Nico, my Hazel, we are so sorry...she was hurt...)

 _"_ _Nonna? Cosa intendi? E 'andata bene? Stai bene?"_ (Grandmother? What do you mean? Is she okay? Are you okay?) Nico asked frantically.

" _Nonna_?" whispered Hazel.

 _"Piccolo Nico, il mio Hazel fiore...ti vogliamo bene...era cosi improvviso..."_ (Little Nico, my Hazel flower...we love you...it was so sudden...)

 _"Nonna?"_

His grandmother burst into tears. _"Piccolo Nico, Hazel fiore...Bianca, ora e con gli angeli. E con la Mamma."_ (Little Nico, Hazel flower...Bianca, she is with the angels now. She is with Mama.)

" _Nonna! Non lo puoi dire! No! No!"_ (Grandmother! You can't say that! No! No!)

" _Piccolo Nico-_ "

" _NO!"_

 _"Nonna, non puo essere vero, non e vero!"_ Hazel cried, her eyes wide. (Grandmother, it can't be true, it is not true!)

The whole office was listening to them, but he didn't care. They didn't understand a word they were saying, to them it was just a rant in Italian.

" _Nonna, no! BIANCA! BIANCA!_ _Non ti credo!"_ (Grandmother, no! BIANCA! BIANCA! I don't believe you!)

 _"No, Nico, per favore!"_ (No, Nico, please!)

" _No! No! Bianca!"_ Hazel was crying.

 _"Ti odio! Ti odio tutti! No!"_ (I hate you! I hate you all! No!) Nico yelled into the phone.

Nico threw his phone against a wall and ran out, the lady at the front desk leaping up and grabbing his shoulder, Hazel right behind her, looking scared and sad and confused.

"Mr. and Ms. di Angelo, I am so sorry. We were sure that-if a relative-"

" _Allontanati da me! Non ci credo! È una bugia_!" (Get away from me! I don't believe it! It's a lie!)

Hazel flung herself against her brother.

"Nico, what are we going to do? What are we going to _do_?"

 **A/N: Yeah, I figured I'd come back, write half a chapter in Italian, and depress y'all. Sorry. And sorry, Italy and everyone who knows Italian, for butchering your lovely language using Google Translate. I'm learning Italian, I really am, but I obviously don't know it all yet. So sorry, and if anyone has any corrections (and can verify the correctness) then please tell me. Byyyye! (UPDATE: I now know Italian better but it looks fine to me :/ Combattimi.)**


	3. Chapter 3 (Guess who's back yo)

**A/N: Everyone thank Kyliefel for Following and Favoriting this, and therefore prompting me to get back on track with Percy Jackson. (UPDATE: LOL that was so long ago. Sorry man/woman/whatever you prefer.) I've been in the Maximum Ride section, and I've been really busy with my** _ **Rosaline**_ **trilogy. Sowwy D: .-. But I'll try to finish this up. It'll be longer than fifteen chapters-that's my mental rule now-and hopefully good.**

 **READ ON!**

Hazel and Nico went back to Italy with their hearts broken for the funeral. Jason tried texting Nico to no avail.

 _Jason: Nico im so sorry about ur sister :(_

 _Delivered_

 _Read at 2:26 AM_

No reply.

But school had to carry on.

 _-0-0-0-_

"-For an art so fine shall bring thy heart to rest, but without it, darkness shall floweth into thy pretentious mind, and thou shalt try to escapeth, but to no avail!"

Piper McLean curtsied and ran off stage, out of breath from the long ending speech. The class had been working on a Shakespeare-style play, trying to remake and create a brand-new one. They had the beginning and end, and just needed to finish the middle

"Very good, darling! You shall do nicely for the second main part...yes...oh, the time! Class dismissed!" The teacher chirped.

Piper sighed in relief and followed the others scurrying out the quickly crowding door. She was planning to meet her friends in the central courtyard-y type area. No one was sure what to call it, really—it was a majestic, medieval-castle-looking place, made up of a paved brick pathway winding around a cluster of flowers and a large oak tree.

"Pipes! Over here!" She heard someone yell. She recognized Will's voice—he must have run out ahead of her.

She waved at the group and jogged to meet them, her small, feather-accented braids bouncing.

"We had a place like this back at Half-Blood," Annabeth remarked, looking up at the branches of the tree, "but it was a pine tree instead of an oak."

Frank was sitting on a bench, checking his phone. "Hazel and Nico are getting ready for the funeral."

"Oh?" Jason sat next to him. "Nico wouldn't reply to me."

"Yeah, he won't talk to anyone, from what it sounds like."

"Oh…" Jason trailed off a bit. "Wait, you got Hazel's number?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Cool, man!"

Frank's face flushed red.

Kayla was talking to Will about something someone-or-other had said. Jason took slow interest in it—it was amusing, at least more so than talking about Nico's dead sister and her funeral.

"—sounded totally, one hundred percent gay."

Kayla laughed. "Says the rainbow man himself! Nah, I wouldn't say Cecil's gay, although I admit he doesn't take much interest in anyone that I've seen, except maybe Lou Ellen."

"No way. He was hitting on Lou?"

"Kind of. I dunno if she noticed or not, though."

"I still don't believe it."

"You better. I ship it. Call it—Loucil, maybe? Cellen?"

"Loucil. Sounds better."

"Sounds like 'Lucille' or something."

"Just call 'em that, then! What would Cecil care?"

"I dunno, but Lou would probably throw something at me."

"She's sneaky like that. It's like she can bend air and walk through it or something."

"Ooooh, that's deep. Hey, you got a crush yet?" Kayla grinned up at Will.

Will threw her a look. "Would. You. Stop."

"No."

They continued their playful banter, and Jason's eyes landed on Piper, the brilliant and beautiful actress-to-be. Piper noticed his gaze and smiled a bit, her technicolored eyes shining brightly in the soft light of the courtyard. The rest of Jupiter was covered with blaring lights, but this place was warm; special in its own way.

 _-0-0-0-_

The days seemed to go on like normal. Frank continued getting emails from Hazel, Nico didn't contact anyone, Percy and Annabeth seemed to grow closer, Leo flirted to no avail with Calypso, and Piper hung out with Jason more often. A week or so passed before anything changed.

"Eek!" A girl squealed, bouncing up and down. Everyone who had eyes and a brain recognized her as Drew Tanaka. "The student dance!"

Sure enough, when Percy edged closer to the bulletin board—several feet away was as close as he could get with the swarming mob of young women in front of him, thankfully he had 19.5/20 vision (the .5 being destroyed by chlorine in the pools he swam in)—he saw a large, glittery poster labelled 'The Gathering of the Arts~A Student Ball for All!'.

"Cringe, cringe, cringe," Annabeth scrunched her nose at the poster. "Welcome to the land of 'cheesy'. They should've asked the actual art kids to make the poster, not the senior staff."

"Didn't know you could crack a joke, Wise Girl," Percy snorted, stepping backwards.

"Well, I try to keep a balance. A person's IQ could be lowered drastically by telling too many, Seaweed Brain."

Percy knitted his eyebrows. "Wait…wait, _I_ tell jokes a lot…"

Piper raised a perfect eyebrow behind him. "And it's coming, and it's coming, and…"

"Hey, that was an insult!"

"Bingo, Kelp Head," Annabeth crossed her arms.

"Owl Girl!"

"Fish Boy."

"Textbook Queen."

"Aquaman."

" _Thank_ you! I've been trying to get that to catch on!" He laughed and darted behind Annabeth, putting his hands on her waist and pinching gently, giving her 'jumper cables'.

"Hey—you!" Annabeth yelped, running after him as the artist Jackson ran off like a maniac.

"Catch me if you ca-an, O Princess of the Dictionary!"

That was a new one. Piper rolled her eyes and walked off, thinking about the exciting days to come.

 _-0-0-0-_

"I swear, your royal Headmasterness, I never _meant_ to set the kitchen stove on fire!"

"Valdez, I'd like to believe you, but this is the thirty-seventh time you've set something aflame."

"Awww, come on, O Leader, help out an old pal!"

"I am not your pal."

"Princi… _pal_."

"I am a headmaster. It is different." Headmaster Chiron leaned back in his wheelchair.

"Sure. As different as butter and margarine. One's good, one's iffy—"

" _Valdez_."

"Shutting up. Got it." Leo Valdez huffed and flopped back in his own chair, a wooden one with a thickly padded seat. "Can I return to class now? I got a cake to decorate and a hot chick to impress with my mad skills."

Chiron sighed and put a tan hand to his head. "Go. Now. Before I change my mind."

The Latino leapt up and rushed to the door.

"Oh, and Valdez?"

Leo turned.

"Best of luck with your cake. And impressing that girl, too."

" _Muchos gracias, mi amigo_. It won't be that hard— _all_ da ladies love Leo!"

Leo cackled and swung out the door. There was a shriek from the desk—Chiron assumed that meant that Leo had knocked over an important stack of files. Again.

 **A/N: So it's short, yeah, but I wanted to get this out there. It's kinda everywhere right now, but everything will be pulled together—promise! "WHY'S CHIRON AT THE PLACE STAND AS CAMP JUPITER ALSJFHDISHFAOEUIN?!" I'll explain that next chapter. "WHY ARE YOU WRITING THIS LIKE CAMP HALF-BLOOD IS A BAD PLACE AIJHAEIRUFISUFHWOEUIF?!" No offense to CHB at all! I'd much rather go there than Camp Jupiter! I just needed to do that for the story. Let's just say that…well, Half-Blood was run by Headmaster Dionysus. 'Nuff said. Now, I'm off! BYE!**


End file.
